Dissertation Research: The Failure of Nation: The State, Dependency and Political Contestation in the Maldives

9319870 Comaroff这个项目涉及芝加哥大学文化人类学专业的一名学生的论文研究。该学生将调查马尔代夫的政治冲突。使用参与观察和深度访谈的民族志技术，学生将研究当地国家如何通过声称宗教权威来使其行为合法化，以及这种说法如何受到当地宗教从业者的质疑魔法和其他非正式宗教。这项研究很重要，因为许多国家的政治权力是通过官方宣称的宗教授权或合法性来合法化的。我们对这种合法化是如何产生的，以及它是如何抵御反诉的理解的进步，可以帮助我们处理其他地方类似的政治-宗教冲突的情况。该项目还将通过训练一名学生掌握社会科学技术和对南亚这一重要地区进行区域研究来提高我们的科学能力。* * *

9319870 Comaroff This project involves the dissertation research of a student in cultural anthropology from the University of Chicago. The student will investigate political conflict in the Maldives. Using ethnographic techniques of participant observation and in- depth interviews, the student will examine how the local state legitimates its actions by claims to religious authority, and how that claim is contested by local religious practitioners of magic and other informal religions. This research is important because political power in many states is legitimated by official claims of religious authorization or legitimacy. Advances in our understanding of how this legitimization comes about, and how it is defended against counter-claims, can help us deal with like situations of political-religious conflict in other places. The project will also advance our scientific capacity by training a student in social science techniques and in regional studies of the important area of South Asia. ***